Born To Live Expansively
[ theme music rises ]
It’s been said that better questions lead us naturally to better answers, and that it’s in not knowing that we open the doorway to knowing. I’m Scott Lennox and you’re listening to The Beautiful Question, a consideration of things that truly matter in a complex world.
[ brief pause ]
What will most likely happen when you began to live beyond the limits you’ve imposed on yourself or accepted from other people?
Join me this week as we consider what it means to step into the fullness and freedom that is always possible in our lives.
[ brief pause as theme music fades ]
Photo: TeamOne
How amazingly far we’ve come since the days of the simple looking glass!
The American astronomer Edwin Hubble is the one for whom the space exploring telescope is named. His careful observations in 1925 made it possible for him to be the first to prove that the universe is expanding. He showed that all galaxies are moving away from each other and that the farthest galaxies away are moving the fastest.
It has been further demonstrated that the galaxies are not merely moving through space but are moving within space. Putting that in the simplest possible terms, the universe itself is growing and expanding and the galaxies within it are expanding as that happens. That being true, everything within those galaxies is expanding in the same way.
Thinking in just two dimensions, imagine an immense sheet of plastic with galaxies drawn on it. All around it, people are pulling and stretching it in every direction, making it ever larger. Now think of the same kind of expansion, but in every conceivable direction at the same time.
You might be saying, “But Scott, what’s that got to do with me?” Hear me out and I think you’ll see my point.
[ brief pause ]
Because the nature of the expanding universe is our nature—as Carl Sagan used to say, “We are made of star stuff”—then it is our nature to live expansively. The Jesuit philosopher and scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, pointed to this when he wrote that we have a duty to live as though the limits of our abilities do not exist, adding that we are “collaborators with creation.”
I also think of a powerful statement made by Marianne Williamson in her book, A Return To Love. She wrote, ”Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.”
And in full and colorful resonance with that notion, I can hear my old friend, Rory McCloud, a Scottish piper who lives on the Isle of Skye, loudly saying, “Oh, for crying out loud, live your life? Take up some space and be grand will ya!?
[ brief pause ]
Consider what would happen the day you refused to except the artificial limits you’ve placed on yourself or accepted from others. Ask yourself what will happen the moment you give yourself complete authority to live in the fullness of all that you are.
The answer is simple and yet sweeping in its significance. You will unlock the door to what Albert Einstein referred to as the prison of your own ideas. Stepping through that doorway, you will begin living as a consciously liberated and expansive human being, unfettered and unbound. You will remember that you were not born to “shrink” or hold back. You will choose to play in the fullness and limitlessness of your own life.
You will awaken.
[ brief pause ]
While it’s never my intention to have you align with a particular philosophy or theology or ideology, I encourage you to listen more deeply to yourself and to align with what is truly resonant and balanced and right for you. We find none of that when we are living in states of self-constriction or imposed limitation.
So, here’s to the greater Freedom and Joy and Peace that your humanity deserves!
[ brief pause ]
For your consideration, this week I offer three Beautiful Questions that are designed to help you liberate yourself more fully.
Question One: Is there one particular idea that has been restricting you or holding you back?
Question Two: Which artificial limit or self-imposed boundary will you surpass and eliminate today?
Question Three: In what specific way will you accomplish that?
Write and tell me about it. I’d love to hear from you.
[ brief pause ]
As I say each week,
My Light with Your Light!
[ theme music & sign-off ]
Thank you for joining me in these podcasts as we keep doing the things we can to respond to life in increasingly effective ways. As always, I’m open to your comments and feedback.
You can be further inspired by visiting my friends at Kosmos Journal. That’s K O S M O S Journal. Their mission is to inform, inspire, and engage global transformation in harmony with all life. You can easily find them online at Kosmos Journal dot O R G.
And at thebeautifulquestion.com, you can read the illustrated transcript of each podcast as you listen. You’ll also find an archive of all previous podcasts, including episodes three and four, guided relaxation audios that can help you practice letting go on a daily basis.
If you find these podcasts useful, don’t hesitate to share them or tell others about them. That’s a great way of helping me get a voice of calm and collaboration and balance and encouragement out into the world.
[ brief pause ]
I’m Scott Lennox, and this has been The Beautiful Question.
[ brief pause ]
The Beautiful Question is a One Light production, written, produced, and engineered by Scott Lennox at HeartRock Studios in Fort Worth, Texas, as a way of paying forward to life, being fully present, becoming better engaged with things that truly matter in a complex world, and committing to a healthier future for all of us.